It’s Fun To Watch Obama Government Officials Panic Over Tolerance

Trump’s transition team has been doing the yeoman’s work of getting a new administration set up, with less than enthusiastic cooperation, in a very short amount of time. And for doing this job, asking questions that any transition team would normally ask, they touched the liberal third rail. Like tattle-taling children, liberals went running to the New York Times to tell all.

The one-page memo, a copy of which was provided to The New York Times on Thursday, directed employees to outline “existing programs and activities to promote gender equality, such as ending gender-based violence, promoting women’s participation in economic and political spheres, entrepreneurship, etc.”

It also requested a list of positions “whose primary functions are to promote such issues” — though not the names of people in those positions — as well as how much funding was directed to gender-related programs in 2016. The United States Agency for International Development also received the request, according to a senior official there.

The Obama administration was looking forward to the transition with their friendly Clinton counterparts, but got sucker punched on November 8th. You know, democracy and all that. It’s not that Trump’s team asked anything improper, or hinted at making changes. They didn’t. But the fact that they dare ask at all was a source of pique.

The wording of the memo is neutral and does not hint at any policy change. Nevertheless, some State Department employees took note of the reference to “gender-related staffing,” which they said could also refer to programs focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues, though the memo did not refer specifically to them.

Even current State spokesman John Kirby told the NYT that Trump’s team is doing nothing unusual.

“Having gone through a transition myself a few years ago, without getting into detail, I can tell you that the kinds of things, the kinds of material, the kind of information that they are asking for is very much in keeping with what I’ve seen in at least the one previous presidential transition that I lived through when I was at the Pentagon,” Mr. Kirby said.

We know the cause of the tizzy isn’t anything Trump’s team has done. It’s the fact that people who don’t share all of their liberal values are asking these questions. If it was Hillary’s transition team asking, there would be no questioning of motives at all.

It’s really enjoyable and delicious to watch them panic that what they’ve done to climate change data skeptics (because there’s only one data model these people accept, and it’s the one showing we will all melt in ten years) will be done to them. I am thoroughly enjoying watching panicked liberals think that their gender-studies degrees won’t get them a cushy government job anymore.

You know it is possible to have a women-friendly work environment that rewards performance with equal merit to men, without employing an entire office full of gender equality police to enforce it. It’s also possible to hire people who happen to be gay, or even transgender, without regard to their sexual preference, without promoting that lifestyle. That’s what “tolerance” is, dealing with people as human beings without being forced to agree with them or celebrate everything they do.

Liberals are deathly afraid of real tolerance. It’s fun to see them panic.

About the author

Steve Berman

The old Steve cared about money, prestige, and power. Then Christ found me. All at once things changed. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

I spent 30 years in business. Now I write and edit. But mostly I love. I have a wife and 2 kids and a dog and we live in a little house in central Georgia.